Save Me (The Archer Brothers 3)

“How’s Nate?”

Evan sighs and leans back in his chair, kicking his feet out.

“Are you talking to him?”

“We talk. He and Ryley talk more, almost every day. I try not to let it bother me, but sometimes it does. I’m jealous of their relationship. Her and I have lost so much time, and it doesn’t matter how much time we spend together now, things are different.

“When Nate’s around, they’re always laughing. They have these stupid inside jokes and I hate hearing ‘remember when’ because whatever it is they’re talking about, it’s usually something that happened while we were gone. And don’t even get started on Nate and EJ.” He stops talking and shakes his head. “I’m grateful my brother was there for them, but sometimes I want to ask him to disappear for a year and let us be. Each time I think I’m about to have a breakthrough with EJ, Nate shows up. I know he doesn’t plan it, but there’s a part of me that thinks he does.”

Evan and I often complain about the shit we went though and easily forget about how our families suffered. Each of us is hurting in different ways, and while Evan was lucky enough to get his family back, Rask and I haven’t been. That poor kid—his parents won’t even speak to him, even though a simple DNA test will prove he’s their son. They refuse to acknowledge he’s alive and yet, he hasn’t given up hope. He says he calls them each Sunday, just as he did before we deployed. He tells me that he leaves a message because they don’t answer and is waiting for the day he’s met with the operator recording stating the number has been disconnected.

“Nate’s good, though. I need to accept that he did what he did out of love for Ry and me. Him being with Cara helps, though. And when he does show up here, she’s with him, so I’m not always on high alert when he’s around.”

Since I’ve sat down I’ve been watching a set of lights off in the distance. The boat’s activities are strange. From what I can gather, when it shuts its lights off it’s speeding into the Sound. When the lights come on, I have a feeling it’s looking to see if they’ve reached their destination. It’s as if they want to get wherever they need to be unnoticed. If this doesn’t reek of something illegal I don’t know what does.

“He’s still enlisted, right?” I ask, lifting the night vision binoculars to my face. Now that the boat is closer I can make out three people onboard. It’s nothing but a fishing trawler without fishing poles. Who takes a trawler out with no poles?

“Yep.” Evan lifts his binoculars. I have a feeling he’s looking at the same boat as I am. The Sound is quiet right now, except for this boat. “Cara wants him to retire. He wants to as well, but not until this mess is over. He’s joined the lawsuit Ryley filed against the Navy and says the bigwigs are fucking pissed, but he doesn’t care. He said losing me was the hardest things he’s ever gone though.”

“Worse than BUD/s?”

Evan chuckles. “Yeah, man, worse than BUD/s.”

“Shit, man, that’s hard.”

“Don’t I know it,” he says, as the both of us try not to laugh.

Laughing is rare for me these days, but when it does happen I appreciate the moment.

“What do you think is going on down there?” he asks, solidifying my instincts.

“Drug deal, Navy style.”

“What?” Evan scoffs.

“The lights are off now, and when they turn them back on I bet you the boat is parallel to us. They’re searching for something in the water, so either it’s a place to drop a body or they’re waiting for one to pop up. I said drugs because that would be the easiest for me to take right now.”

“No shit,” he mumbles as we watch the boat speed closer to us. “Man, why does everything have to be so fucked up? And why us? I mean, what the fuck did we do to deserve this?”

“I don’t know,” I mutter just as the boat’s engine shuts off. We both lean forward at the same time to watch whatever is about to happen unfold. The telltale sound of a bullet moving into the chamber has me looking at Evan.

“What the fuck?”

Evan doesn’t say anything as he rests his cheek on his rifle. He flicks the button that allows a red beam to project and steadies it on one of the men on the boat. Shouting ensues and the engine starts up. Their lights come on while they scramble for cover and speed out of the Sound. I shouldn’t laugh but it’s funny as shit.

“Dude?”

Evan shrugs as he puts his rifle down. “Just having a little fun.”

“What if they shot at us?”

He looks at me and I imagine his eyes are cold. “Then I shoot back. Pretty damn sure I’d hit them before they hit me.”

He’s right, but that’s not the point.

“Anyway, if it’s drugs, they need to find someplace else to smuggle. I don’t want that shit washing up on the shores where EJ plays.”

I nod, agreeing with him. “That was funny.”